Various types of machines are available for handling and packaging eggs, with each step of the process occurring within a particular station. Each station accomplishes a particular task including but not limited to washing, drying, weighing, sorting and packing of the eggs. Often, each station may accomplish a plurality of tasks. The varied number of stations encountered requires transportation of the egg through multiple stations to final packaging, and frequently at high rates of speed. The stations may be modular, so that the machine can be reconfigured to satisfy a particular processing need.
Depending on the space configurations of the manufacturing environment, the stations may be arranged in a straight line, or may have an angular relationship, such as “L” shaped, or “U” shaped or the like. During transportation of the eggs through each of the stations by a conveying mechanism, the eggs may travel in a random manner, or in an organized manner, such as in lanes. The eggs may have a predetermined orientation with respect to a major axis of the egg, i.e. smaller more pointed end first, or larger more rounded end first. An example of a conveying mechanism is an in-feed roller conveyor. Another example of a conveying mechanism is an overhead carriage assembly and egg gripper or holder. The holder may grip the egg with a predetermined orientation, such as horizontally or vertically. Further, in handling eggs, the ability to handle a high volume of eggs in a brief time is an important capability.
While existing egg handling machines work well, improving specific features associated with transport of the eggs will enhance overall line speed. For example, the eggs may be initially fed into the machine without the same orientation, and at some point in the process the orientation of the egg will need to be sensed and the eggs uniformly arranged. Further, during transport of the eggs between stations, the type of conveyor may change, such as from an overhead gripper to a series of rotating brushes, cup, basket or the like. For example, the rotating brushes may facilitate the transfer of the egg into another type of conveying mechanism. In a high-speed environment, such changes may slow down the overall process.
In another example of an existing feature of an egg handling machine, the cups used to transport the eggs have a clamshell shape and pivot about a pivot axis located above the centerline of the egg. While the present cups work, the overall line speed is reduced due to the opening and closing of the cups while receiving and removing the egg.
In yet another example, of an existing feature of an egg handling machine, the eggs are either oriented tip up or tip down, and are released at a 90 degree angle from an overhead conveyer onto another conveying mechanism. While the presently used release angle works, the line speed of the machine may not be optimized due to the trajectory of the egg.
Thus, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for efficiently and rapidly conveying eggs through multiple processing stations and facilitating the rapid transition of the eggs through the multiple processing stations, within an egg handling machine.